Congressmen: Iraq will have to be dealt with

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) --Amid speculation the United States may soon be ready to start a new phase in its war on terrorism, two U.S. congressmen, wrapping up a tour of Central Asia, put Iraq and its president squarely in their cross hairs.

Interviewed in Jerusalem on CNN's Larry King Live Wednesday, Rep. Chris Shays, R-Connecticut, chairman of the National Security Subcommittee, likened Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to a "snake in the bedroom."

"We didn't chop off his head [during the Gulf War] and he's around," Shays said. "He's developing weapons of mass destruction, chemical and biological. We know that within three to five years he'll have nuclear weapons."

Speaking on the same program from Muscat, Oman, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Connecticut, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said "Saddam just stands out" because of his weapons of mass destruction and his "evil intentions" toward the United States.

Shays and Lieberman are among several members of Congress who have met with leaders from Pakistan and Afghanistan to Israel and Turkey.

In eliminating the al Qaeda terrorist network, Shays said, "We're shutting down the international university on terrorism in Afghanistan," suggesting the effort will take the United States to Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.

"But ultimately," Shays said, "ultimately Iraq has to be dealt with."

Echoing his Connecticut colleague, Lieberman said, "The when and the how is up to the Commander in Chief and our military, but whether ought not to be in doubt."

Neither the President Bush nor the Pentagon has indicated what the next front in the war on terrorism might be.